The Assault on Job Continues...
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Backround:
Backround:
Good evening so glad each one you could make it tonight. Well we are going to continue with our study through the book of Job. This is not a fan favorite, it seems in our day there is so much bad going on in the world that people have developed a way of trying to stay positive. which is why I believe that many false teachers are gaining such traction. In a world full of negativity, positive words can be a nice breath of air for people who are struggling.
There seems to be only one problem with this approach, positive thinking without the living word of God inside of you will only fade when tragedy comes. Suffering is a very real and productive time in the life of a christian. There would be so many things I would not have understood had I not gone through some of the things I have been through in my life and there are still things I will go through in the future that I know will be far greater than the things I have already experienced.
But I can truly say from my life that I have learned more about God in the difficulties of this life than I ever have at a seminary. Pain and suffering though we don’t understand the reason at the time. though it may feel as though we cannot breathe from the stress and strain of grief God has a greater purpose in mind. Both for His glory and our good He works ALL THINGS together to those who love Him and are the called according to His purposes.
No many will have severe circumstances in their life and ask a very reasonable question:
“how can this tragic event possibly be for good?”
This is a common question when losing a loved one.
Because we don’t know the future and the overarching plan of God, we don't know how God may be using those instances to cultivate deeper Spiritual maturity, or prevent a tragedy down the road.
For example:
I remember the day we left our home in Monticello Florida.
My mother woke me up and she told me we were going to live with my grandparents for a little while.
We got into our little white Honda station wagon that was fully loaded with our things, and I had a feeling we would be staying for a lot longer than just a little while but I didn’t say anything.
It wasn't long after that that I realized my Dad wasn’t coming with us. bad events ensued and it all ended with me and my father not speaking for over 3 1/2 years.
I became an angry, rebellious teenager, who didn’t care about anyone but myself. At the time when I desperately needed a father in my life you could have told me that God was going to use that and turn it around for good and I would told them all about the pain and the questions I had as to how that possibly could happen.
They could have said it and I think someone did. But the bitterness was too great for me to listen.
Fast forward 20 years and I am a pastor who is able to relate to divorce and the struggles that come with it. I try as hard as I can to be a good father and husband to my family. I cant tell you the number of times adults have spoke with me and asked since I was so young how I could relate so well with where they were in their struggle. I know now it is all because of getting into that station wagon and leaving going through that pain watching two people going through divorce I can see failures on both sides and I am able to help those in need better for God’s glory.
Pain produces maturity
I’m sure when Job found out that his children found out that he had lost everything he cared about, it broke him into pieces.
Job lost:
his financial well being (livestock, oxen,)
His help (servants)
ALL OF HIS CHILDREN!!
It’s one thing to look back like I did twenty years ago and know God worked all things together for good but its quite another to endure much suffering like Job did and yet not curse or doubt God.
We see a couple of things he did do.
HE GRIEVED:
Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Job 1:20
He grieved but worshipped at the same time!! I amazed at that confidence in God that took, to remember at a moment like that to ascribe God glory!
Yet the Bible records:
In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
The Return of a defeated foe
The Return of a defeated foe
Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
Job 2:
Notice this is the return of an aggrivated enemy, He comes back before God knowing full well that God had given him permission to strike Job, and yet even with his best attempt he could not cause the faith of Job to be shaken.
“NOTHING UPSETS SATAN WORSE, THAN WHEN YOU DON’T REACT THE WAY HE THINKS YOU WILL”
“NOTHING UPSETS SATAN WORSE, THAN WHEN YOU DON’T REACT THE WAY HE THINKS YOU WILL”
He had come before God knowing that Job was an upright man, but he felt as though Job’s confidence was a result of God’s hand of blessing on his life. He thought that if he ruined all of things closest to Job, that Job would curse God, but Job remained upright in his trust of the Lord.
Now Satan returns.
Isn’t it nice to know that before Satan can do ANYTHING to us he has to ask God if its ok first?
I find something really funny here.
God has a sense of humor...
As soon as Satan and his minions appear look at what God says to Satan.
And the Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
And the Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.”
You can hear the sarcasm in his voice can’t you?
I mean God is basically saying lol you tried and you failed hahaha
Notice the outrage in the reply of satan he is one aggrivated dude!
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
“If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
Yet who can keep from speaking?
Behold, you have instructed many,
and you have strengthened the weak hands.
Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,
and you have made firm the feeble knees.
But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;
it touches you, and you are dismayed.
Is not your fear of God your confidence,
and the integrity of your ways your hope?
“Remember: who that was innocent ever perished?
Or where were the upright cut off?
As I have seen, those who plow iniquity
and sow trouble reap the same.
By the breath of God they perish,
and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.
The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,
the teeth of the young lions are broken.
The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
“Now a word was brought to me stealthily;
my ear received the whisper of it.
Amid thoughts from visions of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,
dread came upon me, and trembling,
which made all my bones shake.
A spirit glided past my face;
the hair of my flesh stood up.
It stood still,
but I could not discern its appearance.
A form was before my eyes;
there was silence, then I heard a voice:
‘Can mortal man be in the right before God?
Can a man be pure before his Maker?
Even in his servants he puts no trust,
and his angels he charges with error;
how much more those who dwell in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like the moth.
Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces;
they perish forever without anyone regarding it.
Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them,
do they not die, and that without wisdom?’
“Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
Surely vexation kills the fool,
and jealousy slays the simple.
I have seen the fool taking root,
but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
His children are far from safety;
they are crushed in the gate,
and there is no one to deliver them.
The hungry eat his harvest,
and he takes it even out of thorns,
and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
For affliction does not come from the dust,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
but man is born to trouble
as the sparks fly upward.
“As for me, I would seek God,
and to God would I commit my cause,
who does great things and unsearchable,
marvelous things without number:
he gives rain on the earth
and sends waters on the fields;
he sets on high those who are lowly,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
He frustrates the devices of the crafty,
so that their hands achieve no success.
He catches the wise in their own craftiness,
and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
They meet with darkness in the daytime
and grope at noonday as in the night.
But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth
and from the hand of the mighty.
So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts her mouth.
“Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves;
therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.
For he wounds, but he binds up;
he shatters, but his hands heal.
He will deliver you from six troubles;
in seven no evil shall touch you.
In famine he will redeem you from death,
and in war from the power of the sword.
You shall be hidden from the lash of the tongue,
and shall not fear destruction when it comes.
At destruction and famine you shall laugh,
and shall not fear the beasts of the earth.
For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,
and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
You shall know that your tent is at peace,
and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
You shall know also that your offspring shall be many,
and your descendants as the grass of the earth.
You shall come to your grave in ripe old age,
like a sheaf gathered up in its season.
Behold, this we have searched out; it is true.
Hear, and know it for your good.”
Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.”
Job 4-5
Satan says: sure you wont let me take his life! But if you let me touch his flesh he will surely fail you!
And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”
Job 2:
Attack #2- Job’s Health
Attack #2- Job’s Health
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
Job 2:7
Notice the eager attack of the enemy when the Bible indicates that Satan couldn’t wait to pour out misery to Job’s body.
Job: An Introduction and Commentary ii. Job’s Illness (2:7b, 8)
Job is smitten with a horrible disease that covers his entire body. There has been much inconclusive speculation as to the identity of his complaint. The word šĕḥîn is general. Tradition favours either leprosy (Lev. 13) or elephantiasis, for these exotic diseases had a fascination for Europeans who had never seen them. The simple story does not indulge in the exaggerated fantasies loved by tales and legends. The lack of detail prevents clinical diagnosis. In assessing the symptoms described by Job in the dialogue, we must remember the poetic medium. The brief data point to boils, ulcers, or one of the numerous diseases of the skin.
This had to be terrible because of the sate we find Job in in the very next verse.
And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.
Job’s heart is now broken, he is in deep grief and pain. But now he wakes up to find his body in tremendous pain. A pain so great that breaking a clay pot and scraping the boils away from the flesh was the only thing that brought some relief. I mean to go that extreme it had to be pretty intense!
Here we find Job shaved head, sitting in ashes, tears streaming down his face, taking pottery and cutting his own skin. This had to be a terrible sight to see. Im sure Job was exhausted from all the grief and pain. but here he sits.... when he is met with the third attack.
Attack #3- An Ungodly Wife
Attack #3- An Ungodly Wife
As if thing couldn’t get any more worse on this poor man, his wife shows up and she is not responding so well. Her response could have been made out of a lack of confidence she had in God as a result of her pain. Nevertheless the vitriol language she uses when she addresses this man doesn’t seem as though she had a belief in the Lord at all.
Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.”
I mean the all out anger and hatred that filled these words as Job sat there in his state was extreme. Now we cannot say for sure that Job’s wife did not believe in God, more than likely she was grief stricken and angry with God herself. Which one can understand given the situation she was in. However she spoke as an unbeliever when she spoke this way and Job let her know, even in thier grief Job still took his role as the spiritual leader of the household by responding in a godly way to here comments.
Job 2:
But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
As we come to a close we notice the entrance of some new characters in this story. Job’s three friends which even though they responded correctly in the beginning became a source of pain for Job later on. But for now let’s take a look at their Godly love for their friend.
Jobs loving friends
Jobs loving friends
Job
Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him.
this is the heart of someone who follows closely with the Lord. They see someone hurting and they respond, it doesnt matter the situation, when trouble comes upon a friend it is our responsibility to let them know they are not alone. A preacher once said, as ambassadors for Christ we have a divine responsibility to be there when someone is going through pain and tragedy. People equate the man or woman of God as the presence of God’s support in the midst of circumstances where they cant see God. These men heard of what was happening to Job and they left their home ( a dangerous thing to do in those days) and traveled together to go comfort Job.
Notice thier response:
And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.
Job 2:12
Their suffering became his suffering this was the meaning behind tearing their robes and sprinkling the dust he sat on on to their heads.
They said nothing.